How to download Open Office for free

OpenOffice is a free and open source productivity suite compatible with Windows, macOS and Linux. It stands as the main free alternative to Microsoft Office (together with LibreOffice, another open source suite born from one of its “ribs”) and is almost 100% compatible with files created with the latter.

It includes a software for word processing (Writer), one for processing spreadsheets (Calc), another for creating presentations (Impress), one for creating databases (Base) and another for creating of printable documents (Draw). They are all extremely simple to use and translated into Italian, including spell checking.

With today’s guide, we will therefore see how to download Open Office for free and how to install it on all major operating systems. It is a quick and intuitive operation that does not require any technical knowledge on the part of the user: try it and you will notice it immediately. All you need is a modestly fast internet connection and a couple of minutes to spend installing the software. So, are you ready to get started?

Index

• Preliminary information
• How to download Open Office Italiano for free
  • Download Open Office for free on PC
  • Download Open Office for free on Mac
  • Download Open Office for free on Ubuntu
• How to download Open Office free for tablet

Preliminary information

Before getting to the heart of the matter and, therefore, explaining how to download Open Office for free , there is some preliminary information that it is my duty to provide you, in order to avoid any subsequent hitches.

What I am referring to, to be precise, are the minimum requirements that your PC must have to proceed with the installation of the famous suite. Find them listed below.

Minimum requirements for Windows

• Operating system:Windows 2000 (Service Pack 2 or higher), Windows XP, Windows 2003, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 10 and later.
• RAM:at least 256 MB (512 MB RAM recommended).
• Free disk space:at least 650 MB for a normal installation (including JRE) via download. After installing and deleting the temporary installation files, OpenOffice will take up approximately 440MB.
• Resolution:1024 x 768 pixels or higher with at least 256 colors.

Minimum requirements for macOS

• Operating system:macOS 10.4 (Tiger) or higher.
• Processor:Intel (in emulation via Rosetta on Apple Silicon).
• RAM:12 MB.
• Free disk space:400 MB.
• Resolution:1024 x 768 pixels or higher with at least 16M colors.

Minimum requirements for Linux

• Operating system:Linux kernel 2.4 or higher, glibc2 version 2.3.2 or higher.
• RAM:256 MB (512 MB recommended).
• Free disk space:400 MB of free disk space.
• Resolution:X server with resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels or higher with at least 256 colors.

Another thing that is important to point out is that, although OpenOffice is a very popular and appreciated software, LibreOffice would still be preferred over it . As mentioned at the beginning, this is another renowned suite for “free” productivity, born from a “rib” of OpenOffice itself, with which it shares part of the source code.

LibreOffice, however, is much more supported by the community, more in step with the times and integrates a greater number of functions, such as those for editing PDFs. Find more details in my guide on how to download LibreOffice .

How to download Open Office Italiano for free

Now let’s get to the real heart of the matter and let’s try to understand, therefore, how to download Open Office for free on a computer , more precisely on Windows , macOS and Linux . For more details, keep reading, you will find everything explained below.

Download Open Office for free on PC

If you want to download Open Office for free for Windows 10 and later versions or if you want to download Open Office for free for Windows XP and all the other older versions of the OS, the first step you need to take is to connect to the program’s website and click on the download link in the center of the page.

In the new page that opens, sincerati that in the left drop-down menu appears selected Windows (EXE) , and in that the center is selected the ‘ Italian and that in the right drop-down menu appears selected release more updated of the program (if not, you will make the necessary changes), then press the Download full version button (recommended) .

When the download is complete, open the .exe file obtained and, in the window you see appear on the screen, click first on the Yes button and then on the Next and Install buttons .

At this point, you just have to start OpenOffice through the special link that has been added to the Start menu , wait for the main program window to appear on the desktop, click on the Next button , fill in the proposed form with your personal data (it is not mandatory, it is only needed if you want your name to be included in the metadata of the documents you will create) and, finally, click on the Finish button .

Subsequently, you will find yourself in front of the main OpenOffice window from which you can access all the various applications that make up the package, by clicking on the relative link , which can also be accessed individually directly from the Start menu . If you don’t know what OpenOffice applications are, you can find them indicated (and explained) below.

• Writer– this is the application dedicated to word processing, practically the Microsoft Office alternative to Word. Thanks to it you can open, edit and create DOC / DOCX, RTF and ODF documents.
• Calc– is the application for spreadsheets, i.e. the Microsoft Office alternative to Excel. It supports all the file formats of the Redmond home software as well as the open document ones (ODS and OTS).
• Impress– similar to Microsoft’s PowerPoint, it is the application with which presentations can be made. It supports all Office file formats.
• Base– is the application used for database management.
• Draw– it is an application thanks to which it is possible to create printable contents (eg flyers, brochures, cards, etc.). It is essentially Microsoft’s Publisher alternative.
• Math– is the OpenOffice component for mathematical equations.

At the end of the setup, the folder with the OpenOffice installation files on the desktop can be deleted without any problem. Indeed, I recommend that you do it as soon as possible as it takes up a lot of space on the hard disk!

Download Open Office for free on Mac

Do you use macOS and would like to understand how to download Open Office for free in this case? The procedure to follow is very simple, but unfortunately the pace at which the program versions are released is a bit slower than in Windows. In any case, to download OpenOffice on your Mac, connect to the software website and click on the download link in the center of the page.

In the new screen that appears, make sure that the OS X (version> = 10.7) DMG option or the OS X (version (depending on the version of macOS you are using) is selected in the drop-down menu on the left , and in the one in the center appears set to the ‘ Italian and that that right is selected the latest release of the program (if not, you make the necessary changes.) Next, click the Download full version (recommended) .

When the download is complete, open the .dmg package you just obtained and drag the OpenOffice icon into the macOS Applications folder . Then, right-click on the icon you moved just now, select the Open item from the menu that appears and press the Open button in the window you see. By doing so, you will go around the limitations wanted by Apple against software from non-certified developers (an operation that must be carried out only at the first start).

After completing the above steps, you will find yourself in front of the program’s welcome screen. So, click on the Next button , fill in the form with your personal data (it’s optional, you have to do it only if you want your name to be included in the metadata of the documents you will create) and click on the Finish button .

After completing the above steps, you will be shown the main screen of the software and, by selecting the appropriate items, you can then choose the type of file to create: a text document, a spreadsheet, a printable content, etc.

Later, you can start OpenOffice simply by selecting its icon from the Launchpad . In this regard, I would like to point out that the macOS version of the program does not allow you to individually start the applications that make up the suite. For the rest, the operation of the program is identical to what I have already indicated to you in the previous step on Windows .

Then, remember to remove the OpenOffice installation package from your Mac, by dragging it to the Trash icon on the Dock bar or by right-clicking on it and selecting Eject “OpenOffice” from the context menu you see appear.

Download Open Office for free on Ubuntu

On Linux operating systems and more precisely on Ubuntu (which is one of the most popular and popular Linux distros ), the other open source productivity suite I mentioned in the step at the beginning of the guide is included as standard : LibreOffice .

However, this does not prevent OpenOffice from being installed on the computer. In fact, if you wish, you can install OpenOffice on your PC and possibly also keep LibreOffice. And if you want to avoid keeping both software, you can obviously consider proceeding with the removal of LibreOffice in favor of the other suite. In both cases, however, you have to act from the command line. It may seem complicated, but it really isn’t.

More precisely, what you need to do is open the Terminal , by clicking on the Show applications button (the one with the square and the dots ) that you find on the Ubuntu Dock bar and selecting the relative icon (the one with the black window and the line of code ) attached to the next screen.

In the window that opens on the desktop, then issue the following commands, followed by pressing the Enter key on the keyboard and entering the administration password , based on the final result you want to obtain.

• If you want to install OpenOffice in addition to LibreOffice, enter the command sudo rm /usr/bin/sofficeto remove the symbolic link “/ usr / bin / soffice” which could cause conflicts between the two suites.
• If you want to install OpenOffice instead of LibreOffice, enter the command sudo apt-get purge libreoffice*.

At this point, connected to the OpenOffice website , click on the download link , make sure that the correct Linux version is selected in the drop-down menus at the top , Italian as the language and the latest version of OpenOffice, then click on the Download full version button (recommended) .

When the download is complete, open the tar.gz package that contains OpenOffice and extract the contents in the Home folder , then access the relative DEBS folder and install the packages inside, double clicking on each of them and pressing the Install button . If you want to speed up the operation, you can also install all packages at the same time, by typing the following command in the Terminal.

• sudo dpkg -i *.deb

If you see any error messages appearing, such as Processing errors occurred: [package] .deb , write down the name of the .deb package causing the problem and force its installation by typing the following command in the Terminal.

• sudo dpkg -i –force-all pacchetto.deb

When the operation is completed, access the Ubuntu screen where all the programs are grouped and you should find the applications of the suite ready to use, they are practically the same as I indicated in the step dedicated to OpenOffice for Windows . To use it, select the one you intend to use and that’s it.

How to download Open Office free for tablet

Are you wondering how to download Open Office for free for tablets or smartphones ? Sorry to disappoint you, but the suite is also not available for the mobile side.

However, this does not mean having to give up an open source productivity solution even on mobile devices. You must know, in fact, that both for Android and for iOS / iPadOS there are very valid alternatives that do not absolutely regret the lack of OpenOffice.

First of all, I would like to point out AndrOpen Office . This is a port of OpenOffice for Android operating systems. In fact, it has the same interface and the same functions as OpenOffice for computers. Unfortunately it is not an optimized solution for touch screens, but this could also take a back seat considering the functions offered. It’s free, but to get the Professional Pack, which allows you to remove advertising and unlock other extra features, you have to pay (costs € 8.90).

If you want to download and install the app on your device, visit the relevant section of the Play Store and tap the Install button (if you are using a device on which the Play Store is not available, you can download the app from an alternative store ) .

Then, start AndrOpen Office by selecting the relative icon that has been added to the home screen and / or drawer and, once the main screen of the app is displayed, press the word Allow to grant access to multimedia contents and start serving you of the various functions available to create, edit and view your documents.

In addition to the solution that I have already reported to you and / or if you are looking for apps that also work on iPhone and iPad, you can rely on one of the following solutions, which are equally valid.

• Collaborate Office( Android / iOS / iPadOS ) – it is an app usable on Android and iOS / iPadOS that is based on LibreOffice, the alternative suite to OpenOffice that I told you about in the step at the beginning of the tutorial and allows both to create new documents that you can view and edit existing ones. It’s free.
• WPS Office( Android / iOS / iPadOS ) – this is another productivity suite that offers the possibility, both on Android and on iPhone and iPad, to view Word documents, PowerPoint presentations, Excel sheets and PDF files almost always respecting their original formatting. It’s free, but in-app purchases are offered (at a minimum cost of € 4.49) to unlock additional features.
• Polaris Office( Android / iOS / iPadOS ) – excellent productivity suite available for both Android and iOS / iPadOS thanks to which you can view, edit and create simple text documents, Word documents, presentations and spreadsheets. It also includes convenient preset templates. Basically it is free, but through in-app purchases (with prices starting from 3.99 euros) you can unlock extra functions.